NEW DELHI – External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said thatIndia was not pressurised by the United States over Iran, and said thatIndia only follows sanctions by the United Nations and not by any specificcountry.
US President Donald Trump this month withdrew the United States from theIran nuclear deal and ordered the reimposition of U.S. sanctions againstIran that were suspended under the 2015 accord.
But Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said New Delhi’s position wasindependent of any other country.
“India follows only U.N. sanctions, and not unilateral sanctions by anycountry,” she said at a news conference in response at a question onIndia’s response to the US decision.
India and Iran have long-standing political and economic ties, with Iranone of India’s top oil supplier.
While speaking on North Korea, Swaraj said General VK Singh’s visit to thatcountry was the aftermath of her meeting a North Korean official in Baku,Azerbaijan. “He had requested that an Indian official come to Pyongyang, soas soon as I returned, I directed General VK Singh to do the same,” shesaid.
While speaking on China, Swaraj added that the stand-off following Doklamwas status quo. She also addressed the situation of someone who was deniedtaking a dip at the Mansarovar river, which falls in China. “I got a tweetfrom someone who was visiting Mansarovar that they were not being allowedto take holy dip in the Mansarovar jheel. This wasn’t the situation. Thereis always a designated place where you can take a bath, you cannot take dipjust anywhere in the river,” she said.